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Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A Michelin-starred chef shares the menu-building strategies he uses to navigate rising food costs
Behind the plush seats and pastel-pink interior of Chicago's first Michelin-starred Indian restaurant — and one of the rare Indian fine-dining tasting menus in the US — was a risk. While restaurants continued to shutter or pivot in 2022 because of COVID-19, Indienne opened its doors. "That was, I think, the biggest risk I've taken," said Sujan Sarkar, Indienne's chef and co-owner, who has more than 22 years of experience opening and managing restaurants around the world. Sarkar told Business Insider that throughout the pandemic, the restaurant's vision — to spread a new Indian-food movement backed by high-end, flavorful dishes — stayed the same. "It can be profitable," he said. "We can build a successful business if we are consistent." But today's turbulent market, while different from the pandemic's, presents fresh challenges. The Economic Research Service's Food Price Outlook predicts that food costs will increase by 3.5% in 2025, and supply chains show no sign of easing up anytime soon. As inflation continues to grip the US and tariff negotiations remain in flux, causing companies to hike their prices, restaurant owners are preparing to face the brunt of the economic pressures. And while the industry has been battle-tested in the past, fine-dining leaders are perhaps at a crossroads: Shut down, pivot, or stay the course? For Sarkar, it's all about sticking to what's worked in the past. "We have to be sensible about everything, because the diners who are coming to dine in our restaurant are coming for something that we are known for," Sarkar said. "We are seeing that people are really appreciating what we do, and that's why the business is also sustainable, even though the cost is rising." BI spoke with Sarkar about his plans for navigating economic pressures and how fine dining could adapt to stay ahead. Sujan Sarkar: We run four different tasting menus. We have nonvegetatian, vegetarian, vegan, and pescatarian. With the vegan menu, my cost is lower than the nonvegetarian menu because of no protein. Our vegetarian and vegan menus do not include caviar, scallops, or lamb. When diners choose these menus, the price is only a $10 or $15 difference from the nonvegetarian menu. But when they opt for this, my profitability goes up because the food costs are lower. We also always offer a supplement course that people can add to their tasting for $15 to $24 extra. I don't do last-minute makeshift dishes. So if you read a menu before you come, it's much easier for you and for me as a business. When we have the planning in place, we can control the cost. If my restaurant is full, I can manage because I know how much business we'll do, and my forecasting is much easier. I also have four other restaurants in the city. We share a lot of resources, and that also helps us cut costs. How does simplicity and seasonality play into how adaptable you've been as a restaurant? An example is how we work with farmers to get baby corn. I purchase a guaranteed minimum quantity of baby corn every week so I can get better pricing and farmers can have secure revenue. It's local and seasonal, which keeps my costs down and also gives the farmers business. We don't grow a lot of vegetables here in the winter, so I have to rely on people from California who can get them. But I can't only give them business in the winter — there isn't a written contract, but there's an understanding that I will give them yearlong business. So they are also doing things for us, like sourcing baby vegetables, micro herbs, and edible flowers. That way, the menu can be consistent, and we can set its cost. Restaurants are going from highly priced menus to something affordable. We did just the opposite. We used to do a tasting and an à la carte menu when we started, but now we are only a tasting restaurant. We are not creating a lower-priced menu to attract more diners. But almost a month ago, I opened a new restaurant called Nadu, where you can get food that is only à la carte. We just took a different route at Indienne, but the people going appreciate that more because they know exactly what they're coming and paying for. We're getting an overwhelming response. It's still Indian food, but a much simpler version. Still, everything is cooked in-house, everything is flavorful, but now it's as close to our traditional Indian dishes as possible. What advice would you give to emerging chefs or restaurateurs trying to build something ambitious in a time when margins may be tighter than ever? I've waited almost 21 years to open Indienne. I could have opened before — I opened restaurants in so many different countries and all over America — but you have to be sure about what you're doing. It's not only about you when you open a restaurant. There are a lot of people who are going to trust you. If you fail, they fail as well. You may be good at cooking, but that's only 30% of any restaurant. You have to learn so many other things. Your people-management skills, your accounting skills, your interpersonal skills, your PR — everything comes into play. The restaurant business is very volatile, and the profit margin is getting limited every day. It's not easy, but just wait for the right time and get the right people by your side: investors, teammates, your mentor — everyone.
Miami Herald
25-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Struggling hamburger chain closing restaurants makes big change
If you really want to know how the economy is doing, don't look at Wall Street. Instead, look at Main Street, at those coffee and donut shops, burger joints, and delis. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter When times get tough financially, as they have for millions of Americans lately, eating out is one of the luxuries people cut first. Related: A Michelin Star is apparently the kiss of death for many restaurants And the data shows people are cutting back on meals away from home. In fact, a majority of restaurant owners (63%) said their same-store sales declined in February after a robust January, according to the March report from the National Restaurant Association. Even though the rate of inflation is slowing down, for now, consumers are still wary, especially since the cost of staples like eggs, meat, and cereal is still high. Food prices rose 1.2% over the past year, with significant increases in beef (+3.0%), dairy (+2.5%), and cereal (+2.0%), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cost of groceries has been inching up continually for several years, and 2025 will likely see an addition 2.2% increase, according to the USDA's Food Price Outlook. Related: Whole Foods location closed indefinitely for sickening reason Some restaurants are looking for creative ways to get more people through their doors. Take Red Robin. The family-friendly burger joint recently announced an astonishingly good deal: the $20 "Burger Pass." For $20, customers could eat a burger and fries every day for the whole month of May. The offer was so popular it quickly overwhelmed and then crashed the company's website before selling out. The Burger Pass was another effort by the company to reinvigorate itself. Two years ago the company announced a plan to update the brand, calling it a "North Star" reinvention plan. But equipment updates, intense staff training, and an expanded menu haven't delivered the results the company hoped for. Now the CEO who launched the North Star plan, G.J. Hart, is stepping down, effective immediately. Hart took the CEO role in 2022; in fiscal 2024, Red Robin saw a net loss of $77.5 million, up from $21.2 million in fiscal 2023. Hart will be replaced by Board Chairman David Pace but will remain in an advisory role until September, according to a company statement. "It has been a privilege to lead such an iconic brand over the last two-and-a-half years. Together we have made important strides in strengthening the essential foundation of great food and great service, and I look at our progress with immense pride," Hart said in the statement. More Food News: McDonald's, Starbucks targeted by rival fast-food chain's takeoverPopular retailer unveils affordable line with unexpected brandOreo celebrates 113th birthday bringing back fan favorite Red Robin has more than 500 locations in the U.S. and Canada, 90 of which are franchises. The company also recently announced it would close 70 underperforming locations over the next five years, including between 10 and 15 in 2025 alone, focusing on closing those with expiring leases. The locations that will close have not been announced but the Colorado-based company has 57 locations in California, 37 in Washington, and 18 each in Texas and Arizona, so there's a good chance those states will lose some locations. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
CBS News
23-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Rising food prices force South Florida families to line up for free groceries
As inflation continues to push grocery prices higher, hundreds of families lined up for free groceries at a food distribution event this week, some arriving hours early, their cars stretching down the street. Clara, one of those in line, said she feeds six people at home and has had no choice but to seek help. "It's really hard out here, food prices really, really high. You can't eat, you can't drink," she said. "So you have to do what you have to do, so I come here — that's how I eat." Food inflation is still climbing According to the USDA's Food Price Outlook, grocery prices are expected to rise another 3.7 percent this year. That follows an 11.4 percent spike in 2022 and smaller increases in 2023 and 2024. Joe, another resident waiting for food, said the impact on his wallet has been staggering. "Now, eggs, hot dogs, you can't buy anything. Something you buy for three dollars is now seven or six dollars. It's bad," he said. More new faces at food giveaways Barbara Sweet, who has overseen food distributions for the City of Miami for over a decade, said the number of people seeking help is rising and many are first-timers. "We see new faces coming. We get calls every week," she said. While newcomers rarely explain why they're there, Sweet says she already knows. "They don't have to tell me why they're here. I know why they're here." Farm Share, the organization supplying the food, confirmed an increase in community need. Volunteers handed out groceries for 500 families during the latest event, with many recipients declining interviews out of privacy or pride. Shay picked up food for her grandmother, who lives on Social Security. "Her little social can't afford rent and groceries at the same time," she said. Upcoming food distributions To find upcoming Farm Share food give-aways this weekend, visit: Farm Share Food Distributions – Florida
Forbes
16-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
When A Burger Costs $18, Red Robin's $20 Burger Pass Feels Radical
For the price of one fast food combo, Red Robin's Bottomless Burger Pass offers 30 chances to feel ... More full—and maybe something more. Red Robin's exclusive black-and-gold Bottomless Burger Pass will be available for purchase at starting April 17 at 9 a.m. MT. In a time when a fast food meal can cost nearly $20, Red Robin is offering something absurd: thirty burgers for the same price. The Bottomless Burger Pass—a monthlong invitation to get one burger a day, every day, for $20—practically begs to be shared on TikTok. Quirky, bold, vaguely absurd. A fast food fever dream dressed up in black-and-gold branding. But behind the gimmick is a cultural moment worth paying attention to. The Bottomless Burger Pass isn't just a deal. It's a kind of emotional theatre. And in 2025, that theatre is working. Because when so many Americans are tightening grocery budgets, scaling back meals, and absorbing the daily drip of scarcity, a pass that promises a burger a day doesn't feel indulgent. It feels restorative. In a culture where food increasingly feels like a transaction—where every bite is weighed against budget, macros, or convenience—the idea of 'bottomless' reads like a love letter to abundance. Red Robin's Bottomless Burger Pass costs $20 and unlocks up to $22 in food per day—typically one gourmet burger plus bottomless sides—every day in May. The deal runs from May 1 through May 31 and resets daily. Unused days do not roll over, and the pass cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. Passes go on sale April 17 at 9 a.m. MT at and quantities are limited. Buyers receive a glossy black-and-gold card by mail, a tangible nod to the promotion's over-the-top flair. For those who miss out, Red Robin is running a sweepstakes throughout May. Royalty members who buy a burger and a drink are automatically entered to win prizes—including free burgers for a year. It's a way to bring more people into the experience, even if they didn't score a pass. A gesture, however small, toward shared abundance. Inflation may technically be cooling, but consumer fatigue is not. Grocery prices remain high, especially for basics like meat, dairy, and pantry staples. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices rose 1.2% over the past year, with notable increases in beef (+3.0%), dairy (+2.5%), and cereals (+2.0%). The USDA's Food Price Outlook forecasts an additional 2.2% rise in 2025, continuing a multi-year stretch of elevated food-at-home costs. Fast restaurants, once the fallback for a quick and cheap meal for the family, now can feel out of reach in many markets, where a burger combo can push $15–18. The tension is obvious: people are craving value, but the definition of value is shifting. It's no longer just about the lowest price—it's about what feels worth it. And Red Robin, knowingly or not, is offering something that feels radically worth it: the emotional permission to return, to receive, to feel full—not just physically, but culturally. The pass says: come back tomorrow. You'll still be welcome. And there will still be food. From drive-thrus to casual dining, burgers have become a national reflex. That's what makes Red ... More Robin burgers—and its bottomless burger pass—feel so familiar, even now. Red Robin's burger pass isn't built around aspirational dining or new flavor trends. It's not promising wellness or global fusion or curated discovery. It's offering you a burger. And that's its genius. The American burger—flattop grilled, bun-wrapped, and endlessly riffable—has long served as a kind of culinary constant. It's tied to memory, to ritual, to 'regular' life. It is a part of American food culture that, for many, just is. And in times of instability, that kind of culinary neutrality can resonate with And it's not just one thing. From the Juicy Lucys of Minnesota to Connecticut's steamed cheeseburgers, burger culture is surprisingly regional—one of the few fast foods that still carries a sense of place. That groundedness matters. In a country where food is often stripped of specificity in the name of scale, the burger remains tied to geography, identity, and memory. As sociologist Mark Caldwell writes in The Rise of the Gourmet Hamburger, published in Contexts, the hamburger has long walked a cultural tightrope—both a mass-market staple and a customizable canvas. Its rise reflects American values of individualism and efficiency but also a deeper yearning for identity through food. That makes the burger one of the few foods that can feel both universal and deeply personal. That kind of rootedness—in history, in ritual, in place—hits differently in 2025, especially when the world feels like it's shrinking. Fast food used to be the fallback. Now it feels like a splurge. The Bottomless Burger Pass lands in ... More a moment of growing exhaustion—and shifting expectations. There's something almost theatrical about the rollout: black-and-gold cards mailed to buyers. A limited quantity, like concert tickets, was released. A menu stacked with summer nostalgia—BBQ pork burgers, loaded nachos, peach lemonades, and milkshakes topped with gummy rings. This is not lean, 'functional' eating. This is narrative-rich eating. It's about signaling: we have plenty, and we'll share it with you. It's not unlike what Panera did with its Sip Club or Taco Bell with its Taco Lover's Pass. These offers are less about calorie counts and more about emotional security—predictability, satisfaction, and control. Psychologists have long studied the difference between scarcity and abundance mindsets. In their book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir describe how scarcity narrows focus and impairs decision-making—while abundance, even in small doses, can restore a sense of agency. What these promotions are really selling is reliability. A small-scale fantasy of having enough. Not just enough calories—but enough care. Enough routine. Enough joy. It's the opposite of scarcity in both message and mood. Theatrics meet comfort food. With its glossy card and limited release, the Red Robin Bottomless ... More Burger Pass reads like a fast food fantasy that feeds something deeper. Of course, not everyone can participate in this fantasy. The pass is only available online in limited quantities. It requires an upfront cost, proximity to a Red Robin location, and the disposable time to dine in repeatedly. But even more striking is what the price represents. In some cities, $20 barely covers a single fast food meal. A burger, fries, and drink can easily stretch past $15—sometimes closer to $18. That's one combo, one moment of fullness… and then it's gone. The Bottomless Burger Pass flips that equation. For the cost of one burger, you get thirty. Not just meals but the emotional assurance that you can come back again tomorrow. That you're still welcome. That there will still be food. Because in a moment when so many are cutting back—swapping dinners for snacks, skipping extras, trying to make 'just enough' stretch even further—this feels like something else entirely. A permission to indulge, to feel full. Red Robin's Bottomless Burger Pass isn't just about burgers. It's an offer of more than enough in a time defined by less. It's not exclusivity. It's promising--for a short time, consistency. It's a promising return. And whether consumers redeem it ten times or thirty, the story sticks: you are allowed to be fed fully. A burger a day might seem indulgent. But in a time defined by trade-offs, it reads more like reassurance. In 2025, that may be the most radical message a fast food chain can send.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Central Minnesota egg producers grapple with price, bird flu challenges
Minnesota's local egg producers are facing pressure from the rising egg prices nationwide and continued threat of bird flu. Many of the area's egg producers and poultry farmers have raised prices or changed farming practices, as the average cost for a dozen Grade A eggs reached $4.95 last month. In the Midwest, some prices reached $7.47 per dozen, according to USA Today. Windhaven Farm in South Haven is one of several farms in the area that has been facing additional challenges. They already had some protective measures against bird flu from previous years, Alex Green, one of Windhaven's owners, said, but it is still front of mind in many situations. "We already put so many practices into place before all of this happened that it's really just habit," he said. "We had something from the weasel family getting into the chicken coops... when you come out one night and you see a pile of dead birds, with bird flu going on, your first thoughts are, 'oh no.'" Winter farm damage: Minnesota farms face costly damage from winter pests The farm has been trying to shoo away migratory birds, a frequent carrier of the illness, from stopping on the property. They are also keeping common birds like barn swallows from eating the feed meant for hens to save the feed and avoid infections. Windhaven Farm produces between 30 to 50 dozen eggs a week. It is a certified egg seller in Minnesota, which Green said means they must adhere to certain practices, such as not reusing cartons. As a result, the family's farm has raised their prices slightly to preemptively protect against rising packaging costs, as well as difficulties buying new chicks from hatcheries strained by demand from backyard chicken keepers and those replenishing stocks depleted by bird flu. "We did raise our egg prices," Green said. "A lot of that was to hedge ourselves against increased packaging costs." TC Farm, a group of sustainable family farms in Minnesota, including some central Minnesota farms, is also finding it hard to get birds from hatcheries. Jack McCann, who founded TC Farm with his wife, said some of the organization's farms have been pushed to raise their egg prices as well, due to difficulties with maintaining hen supplies, rising carton costs and volatile feed prices. TC Farm's egg costs are sitting at about $7 and have risen around 2% per year for the past decade, McCann said, significantly under nationwide prices. Egg prices last month were 53% higher than in January 2024, according to the USDA's February 2025 Food Price Outlook. McCann said many of the farms he works with have been trying to keep their birds inside as much as possible and encourage customers to reuse cartons for new eggs. "It's a little bit difficult to keep them inside all the time and still raise the product that you want to be raising," he said. "And of course we've been suffering from huge feed price changes... so the combination of those two things have been pretty difficult for the farmers." Despite the continued challenges, both Green and McCann said their businesses are somewhat protected from price shocks because they don't sell their eggs in traditional grocery stores. As a result, buying eggs from local producers like Windhaven Farm or TC Farm is sometimes a better deal right now, they both said. "We've increased our prices a little bit, but not remotely as much as the grocery store, so the net effect has actually made it a better value to buy from an independent farmer," McCann said. Women of the Year: Lisa Demuth's trailblazing path in Minnesota politics He also said he does not see bird flu improving or egg prices easing any time soon, especially as the U.S. does not vaccinate birds for bird flu. "All of this egg pricing is completely a self-inflicted thing. If the federal government allowed people to vaccinate their birds, then they wouldn't get the bird flu and die," McCann said. The U.S. does not currently allow bird flu vaccinations for poultry, and American farmers instead rely on biosecurity measures and culling infected stocks. The added stressors have taken a slight mental toll on McCann's family and some of the farmers he works with. "You're used to that stress, but you add on another unknown that you can try to minimize, but you can't really stop... there's nothing we can do, you just have to hope for the best," he said. Robin Heinen, owner of St. Joseph's small-scale farm Triple H Acres, has also slightly raised prices for many of the same reasons and said she is unsure how long the additional price pressures will last. Though Triple H Acres has not faced any problems from bird flu, Heinen said she worries that the response to the illness and higher egg prices could push large egg producers to decrease product quality. "With the price of how everything is now, are farmers going to start cutting more corners?" she said. "The biggest thing to me is, what are they going to do to try and bring these egg costs down, and is that going to lower the health benefits of eggs?" But until the challenges for egg producers ease up, the three farmers said the best thing to do is to get connected with the local food supply by supporting local farmers. "Support your neighbor, support your farmer, support your community," Green said. "We can usually do it better and faster and respond to whatever you need." Teagan King covers business and development for the St. Cloud Times. She can be reached at teking@ This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Minnesota egg farmers grapple with bird flu, cost challenges
